In a Fishbowl
by MeHihihihihihihi
Summary: A one-shot on how the turtles originally got mutated through the POV of one of the turtles.


It's kind of depressing, being shoved into this container that could easily be used as a fishbowl and then stay on the same shelf of the same tiny old pet store for days on end. There's nothing to do but just stand there in the stupid fishbowl watching and waiting. Heck, I don't even know what I'm waiting for. But I'm waiting nonetheless. What else is there to do? What can I do?

Day in, day out I just stand there trapped in the fishbowl with three other turtles. I would've been more than happy to converse with them, get to know them, or plan an escape from this prison with them. But all the three turtles ever do is blink at me with those dead empty eyes. Who can blame them? I've come to the conclusion a while ago that I am just like those lifeless turtles as well. And I keep on wondering if they're feeling trapped like I am in here too. Were turtles always meant to be enclosed in such a tiny space all their lives? We have legs, we can move around somewhat. With determination, we could probably travel a decent distance. Since that is the case, why are we trapped in here?

Everyday humans give me this feeling of hope, that one day I may be able to leave the old pet store for good. There's a world outside that people keep coming in here from. I can see it all the way from the fishbowl. On a few occasions, humans actually take one or a couple of the animals from here away. One day, I hope that I can be one of those animals that gets to leave. Keep in mind that there aren't too many creatures in here on a day to day basis to begin with. If someone were to come in here in search of a pet, there aren't too many choices. Hopefully one human will come along wanting a turtle. And I'd be the lucky turtle that gets chosen.

If that were the case though, I'd feel bad leaving behind the other three turtles in the fishbowl. As dull and lifeless as they are, they're the closest thing to companionship I have. I'd like to think of them as my family. One of them could be my dad for all I know. Another one of them could be my cousin. And the third one could be my brother. I've always wanted a brother. The owner of the pet store leaves an old TV set on, allowing me to be entertained by it. Most of the stuff I learned about the human world comes from that TV set. Without the TV, I'd probably have a mental breakdown. You have no idea the torture that comes along with boredom. Sometimes I wonder if my fellow fishbowlmates also get bored too. Maybe they're watching TV along with me. Maybe they're thinking the same exact thoughts I am. I'd like to think that would be the case. What I'd give to talk to one of them.

There are two people who work at this prison that other people call pet store. There's the owner of the pet store, which is a grumpy old man with gray hair who treats us turtles like a bag of rocks. And then there's his nicer employee. The employee is an older Japanese man. I don't know much about him. All I know is that he's nice, works at the front desk, and his name is Yoshi. At least, I think his name is Yoshi…..I dunno. When I heard the name of the employee it was something something Yoshi. So I'm calling him Yoshi. Yoshi for the most part is the only one who takes care of us. The pet store owner hardly comes around these days. I don't think he even knows that there are turtles in his store. Yoshi one day told us that he'd buy us turtles one of these days. My heart soared at the thought of someone finally taking me away from this place. But not just any human is considering buying turtles. No. It's the kind Yoshi who's considering taking us turtles away from here.

The day had finally come when the Japanese man decided to finally take my fellow turtles and I away from this pet store once and for all. If I weren't a turtle, I'd go up and hug him. Part of me was worried that I'd end up in a fishbowl while in the same place for days, but in a completely different room. Then again, anything is better than this place. At least it'd be a change of scenery, it'd be better than nothing.

"It is time to go," Yoshi announced smiling while looking down at us. There was something about this warm smile that he was giving us that I liked. It was an inviting comforting smile. The smile looked like one that I've seen on TV a couple of times, but never up close. I hoped in the back of my mind that I'd see more of this smile.

The second Yoshi lifted the fishbowl, one of the turtles alongside me chirped excitedly. My head instantly turned to look at this turtle in surprise. None of us have ever made any noises. I didn't even know we were capable of making noises. But nonetheless, the turtle next to me kept up with this high pitched chirping. The other two turtle seemed unfazed by the chirping though.

Yoshi gave a light snicker at the chirping turtle as he carried the fishbowl out of the horrid pet store for good. A light unusual breeze could be felt the instant he stepped out of the store. The breeze felt nice, almost relieving. It was great to be out of the stuffy store and outside for once. I've seen on TV this thing called weather. It was something that happened outside, and I would've loved to have felt weather for the very first time. Maybe today will be that time.

The other two turtles around me started chirping excitedly do to the strange feeling of the outdoors. Yoshi couldn't help but give us a warm smile as he walked down the sidewalk along the side of the street. I was the only turtle who didn't chirp .As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. This frustrated me a little. I tried opening my beak in hopes that some noise would come out of it. But nothing did. I was chirpless.

After a few minutes of Yoshi carrying us, the bowl shook suddenly. A suspicious-looking man bumped into him without even taking a second glance. There was something about that guy that seemed not right. Yoshi seemed to think of exact same thing. I craned my neck to look up at Yoshi's facial expression. His expression showed a mixture of curiosity and seriousness.

Yoshi quickly turned around to silently follow the suspicious man a few feet in front of him. My fellow turtles in the fishbowl snapped their beaks shut to cease all chirping. All three of them stared intently at the back of the strange man's head as if wondering what was going on. I was probably doing the same.

We ended up following the man into a dark alley. Before turning into the alley, Yoshi poked his head forward to get a good look at the man. Through the darkness of the alley I could see another man who looked identical to the first man standing in front of him. The two identical men were conversing with each other. One of the two men was holding a container of glowing bright green substance.

I felt Yoshi cautiously move forward to take a better look at what was going on. A screeching of a rat could be heard. But the second he stepped into the alley, both men looked at him. Their eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. Both men simultaneously glared at us before approaching our direction. My turtle heart skipped a beat at their inhumane facial expression. These men were very robot-like. But I mentally shook my head at that thought because they had to be human. Regardless, these two men were very creepy.

Yoshi quickly turned to leave the alley when two more identical-looking men suddenly came from behind. The men and Yoshi exchanged a few words, but I was too frightened to make out they were saying. I could feel my legs shivering from the spot.

The three turtles around me started chirping violently in fear this time as all four men surrounding us began coming towards us menacingly. Any second now, they were going to attack, and we'd be finished. Part of me wished that I was back at the safe pet store away from these creeps. The four of them were about attack Yoshi.

But Yoshi did something unpredictable. Out of self-defense he attacked back. He kicked two of them hard in the chest and punched a third one back. Yoshi then threw a second punch at the man with the glowing green container. While the punch did knock the man back a few paces, it also knocked the green container out of his hands. At the same time, our fishbowl also slipped out of Yoshi's hands.

For a splint second, the bowl felt like it was in midair alongside the falling green container. Both containers crashed on the hard cement floor. My side ached from the fall. But before I could even acknowledge it, I realized I was covered in this green goop. I desperately tried shaking it off me before I felt this weird tingling sensation all over me. My whole body felt numb and fuzzy. I was barely even aware of what was going on.

I turned my head to look at the other turtles and nearly fell back in shock. The first turtle that was right next to me looked completely different. He was standing on two feet and his posture was changing upright quickly. In fact, he was bigger and much more human looking than before. He was a mutant. I made a surprised audible gasp when I looked down at myself and saw I was also standing on two feet. My limbs were changing right before me. I could literally feel myself growing by the inches and it was freaking me out.

From behind me, I could hear the screams of Yoshi. I began screaming as well not knowing what to do. It was the first noise I could remember myself making. It wasn't a scream of pain, but rather a scream of panic. My body was changing too quickly. New sensations began invading my senses. Before I knew it, I fell over on to my side. I wasn't the only one screaming. The other three turtles around me cried out in panicked screams. Yoshi's screams stopped, and seconds later so did mine.

For a few seconds, I laid in the green stuff exhausted. Tears filled my eyes before I began sobbing. This was too weird for me, and I kept on wondering where Yoshi was. Yoshi sounded like he was in so much pain. What if they captured him? What if they killed him? What will I do now?

I turned over on to my side and gaped at the large rat in my line of vision. He was covered in what appeared to be red sheets. It could've easily come from one of the random clothes lines in the city. And I could see why he was wearing them. It was freezing out here. Not only was I a confused sobbing mess, but I was also shivering uncontrollably. My new teeth began to chatter as I curled up on to my side trying to preserve the little warmth on had. Tears still trickled down my cheeks. Not only was I scared now, but I was also uncomfortable.

I felt something warm reach my plastron. I looked down to see one of the newly mutated turtles crying along with me. He curled up against me for my warmth. His body shivered against the front of my shell as he buried his face in my shoulder. I knew right from the beginning that this was one of the turtles from the fishbowl. This same turtle was now curling up against me for warmth and comfort. Not a bad idea.

I curled up alongside him, as we both wrapped our arms around each other for warmth. Neither one of us let go as fell asleep suddenly. The last thing I heard was the mutated turtle purring contently into my shoulder.

After I don't know how long, I groggily woke up in this strange dark place. The three turtles I was with before were now all fully mutated. All four of us were curled up against a wall with an old blanket surrounding us. The turtle who I curled up with before opened his blue eyes groggily as well. He met my gaze before giving me a light smile. I tried folding the corners of my mouth to smile in return. I hoped that was a smile anyways. The other two turtles were curled up along this blue-eyed turtle's side. They sat up instantly while yawning.

"Hello my sons," a voice welcomed us kindly through the darkness.  
I squinted my eyes to see who was speaking to us. My eyes widened in realization when I saw the large mutant rat standing before us. He was holding a long wooden stick and gave us a warm smile. I felt my heart soar when I suddenly recognized the smile. This was the smile of Yoshi! Yoshi was okay!

Without even thinking I jumped up and ran over to the mutant rat without hesitation. I ran over to hug him. The other three turtles around me followed suit and hugged him as well.

A comforting furry hand rubbed the back of my head as I buried my face into the cloth he was wearing. This was my chance to try speaking for the first time. Since all four of us are more like humans, there might be chance that we could all talk. My high-pitched child-like voice cracked when I muttered, "Nice to see you Yoshi."

The mutant rat gave a light chuckle as all four of us pulled away from the hug to stare at him. I gave him a confused look as to why he was chuckling in the first place. But he smiled as me in amusement. I felt my face flush wondering if I did something wrong. The other three turtles looked between Yoshi and I perplexed.

"Pardon me my son. But you don't need to call me Yoshi. I would much rather you call me Splinter or Father," the mutant rat told me placing a warm hand on my shoulder.

The second he said "father" I felt my face lit up. While I did always want a family, a father was one of the things in a family I wanted the most. And now I had one. And it meant the world to me. In fact, it seemed to mean a lot to the other turtles as well. They were all smiling. The blue-eyed turtle next to me had his little mouth open in shock before squeaking, "So….are we all brothers then?"

"That is right my son. While all of you are my sons. All of you are also brothers to one another," Splinter told us beaming. The blue-eyed turtle grabbed my arm instantly when he heard the confirmation that we were all brothers. I looked down the line of the three turtles to see that they were all grabbing on to each other in support while trying to soak in the news. All four of us had our eyes widened in astonishment.

Splinter began pacing in front of us while looking around the dark cemented area. We could hear the distant sound of trickling water from outside the place. It made me curious to know where we were. But before I could ask, father answered the question for me, "this is our new home. It may not seem like much, but I can guarantee that once we are fully adjusted, you will all learn to live in it as a family. Due to our appearances, we must stay down here for a little while. This is an abandoned subway station that hasn't been used in a while. It'll be a suitable place to live in."

"Are we in the sewers?" one of my brothers piped up curiously while wrinkling his nose.

"Yes we are in the sewers. It may not sound like that great of a place to be in, but we will adjust," Splinter informed us still pacing. He then looked at us expectantly and told us, "my sons. After today's events you are all very tired. Please rest up."  
Father told us this while gesturing to lonesome blanket against the wall. Now that he mentioned it, I was feeling a bit fatigued. We all were as a couple of us yawned in response. One my brothers gave a small protest, but then gave up on it as his eyes began to droop. All four of us turned around and made our way to the welcoming blanket. To some people, a blanket on cement is uncomfortable. But this was the closest thing to a bed we've ever had. It was a luxury.

I adjusted myself comfortably at the end of the line of turtles lying down underneath the blanket. The blue-eyed turtle that was next to me the whole time curled up against my side again. My arm wrapped around his shoulders to pull him it. He was my brother after all and we had to be comfortable around each other. We all ended up scooting closer to one another, using ourselves as pillows. The blue-eyed turtle nestled his nose into me before closing his eyes.

I looked up at Splinter who was watching us intently. I spoke up to him as a sudden question popped into my head, "What are our names?"

"Ah. I have thought about that for a while my son while you were all asleep. I'm glad you brought that up," our father replied brightly. The rest of my brothers' eyes shot open out of curiosity. They excitedly looked at Splinter in hopes of hearing their own names. Our father continued, "I've always found the Renaissance artists to have particularly interesting names. And I have picked chosen four names, one for each of you based off of a Renaissance artist. Do any of you understand Renaissance history?"

We all shook our heads. Splinter shrugged figuring he wasn't going to expect anything more out of all of us. But he always kept the same warm smile on his face. The smile didn't seem forced at all either. Our rat father then continued explaining, "The four names I've chosen that are the names of Renaissance artists are Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo."

"Can you name us right now?" I chirped excitedly from under the blanket. "I don't think I can rest until I have my name."

"Neither can I!"

"You already know what our names are. You might as well tell us!"

"Please tell us!"

"Very well. Since you asked first, I will give you your name first," Splinter replied gesturing towards me. My heart pounded with excitement. I felt like I was one step closer to finding out who I truly was and another step closer to starting a new and happy life. Splinter placed a gentle hand on my forehead before saying, "I can already tell the four of you apart. You are all so different in many ways. I've deeply considered your name, and I've decided to name you….."


End file.
